GW 19 – Review

This season’s topsy-turvy form has made it a struggle to gather any real momentum as far as points earning is concerned. However, GW 19 provided some light relief for many players as they were able to take advantage of the more popular sides of the round all getting on the scoresheet.

Starting out at the top of the Weekly Global League table and a familiar name stealing the headlines again. Another belter of a week for Charlie Chamberlain meant his score could not be matched by any player for the second round in FIVE gameweeks! Kelty Hearts (61 total selections and the most picked x5 and x6 team) were one of two sides to hit their opponents for six at the weekend and were Charlie’s standout selection on x6. 5 goal Forest Green Rovers (40 picks) also reeled in a substantial haul of points on x7, while Cove Rangers’ 3 goals on x8 took Charlie to within a touching distance of a 100+ score from those three multipliers alone! Thankfully, his early selections managed to push him over the line, with a finishing score of 116 just about beating away stiff competition from Julie Keller in second place, with a lovely 115 points in the bag for her.

The other 6 goal side joining Kelty Hearts as top scorers for GW 19 was Inverness Caledonian Thistle (just 3 selections!) The two Scottish outfits spearheaded a terribly tricky Perfect 7 matrix that peaked at a mighty 181 points. Incredibly, Oldham Athletic came back from 4-1 down at home to Forest Green to draw 5-5 and would have slotted in at x5 or x6 of the P7 multiplier ladder, right next to their visitors. Below that, any 4 goal side on x4 and lower would have led you to the highest possible score of the week and that fabled £7,777 jackpot prize! Those sides included both Nottingham clubs in Forest (3 picks) and Notts County (9), as well as Bradford City (2), Bristol Rovers (1), Solihull Moors (0) and Annan Athletic (1), with Leicester City (5 picks) then chipping in with four of their own against Newcastle Utd on Sunday afternoon.

The higher scoring sides may not have pulled in too many selections, but that did not stop us from achieving a very respectable average score of 62 points, with nine players heading to Club 100 to give the place some much-needed business! Liverpool (80 selections, most picked at x4 and the most selected side of the week), Manchester City (76 and most selected ‘banker’ x2 side) AND Manchester Utd (41) all ran out 1-0 victors and, in a strange twist of fate, all relied on penalties to break the deadlock against Aston Villa (0), Wolverhampton Wanderers (0) and Norwich City (2) respectively – it doesn’t matter how the goals go in, just that they do! Wrexham (47) and Celtic (71 and most selected x7 and x8 team) both also won 1-0 with substantial backing. Chelsea were the most selected x3 side and repaid the faith with 3 goals at home to Leeds Utd (2) in a feisty encounter at Stamford Bridge.

That’s that for another week. Manchester Utd host Brighton in our GW 20 early Premier League kick-off, whilst Derby County head to Cardiff City and Middlesbrough entertain AFC Bournemouth in the Championship. Select them at your own risk!

 Sam Brooke-Wilkinson